Your Time's Up
by Rogue Vader
Summary: Kate gets a treat from Benjamin Linus while being held captive by the Others. Not too heavy on the romance, but with a little touch of Jangst.


**Disclaimer: **Lost belongs to ABC, JJ, Damon, and Carlton.

**Author's Note:** This is a peace offering of sorts (it's not heavy on romance) for anyone disturbed by _She Never Says My Name. _I pretty much wrote this on the fly – because of tremendous guilt – so I apologize for any errors. It's set while our trio is in captivity but doesn't necessarily follow the promos we've seen so far. P.S. I hate coming up with titles.

**Your Time's Up**

"Good morning, Kate." Ben Linus steps confidently into my holding cell, his hands clasped behind his back. The cuts on his face have almost healed and he's changed his clothes since the last time I saw him, the fabric clean and seemingly new. It amuses me to think the Others have some stash of clothes they probably only wear for special occasions, but it's empty humor that fades as quickly as it comes.

Without being commanded, I roll to my side and start to get up. The cuffs I've been in since I got here make the movements difficult, a little awkward with my dress, but I manage well enough. When I'm finally on my feet I make a show of straightening my skirt, brushing off any dirt and making myself presentable. Then, when I've played my little game long enough, I turn toward Ben, careful to keep my face a emotionless mask.

Despite my delay, he seems pleased with my automatic reaction, like I'm some over-active puppy that's finally been trained. He nods briefly in satisfaction and smiles without seeming to move his lips. "I hope you slept well. A cement floor can be a little uncomfortable at first."

He doesn't expect a response so I don't give one. Instead I try to ignore the blatant implication of his words and the chilling horror that follows. I glance past him to where his usual entourage stands outside my door. They're shifting expectantly and I wonder if I'm going to be let outside. Not just outside my cell but really outside, where I can breathe fresh air and feel a breeze on my face. For a brief second a rush of excitement courses through me, but I tamp it down before expectation can take hold.

"Since you've been behaving so well, we've decided to give you a treat." Ben steps to one side and motions for the door. "After you."

I hesitate only a moment, wondering if our definitions of 'treat' mean the same thing. But I've no choice to stay behind so I step into the hall with as much bravado as I can muster. The girl named Alex is by my side in an instant, her hand clamping around my upper arm like a vice. We glance briefly at one another and she gives me a small smile, a reassuring nod that's supposed to make me feel better. I'm grateful, but hardly relieved.

A hundred questions race through my mind but I don't give voice to any of them. I've already asked a thousand. About why they've taken us. What they've done with Jack or where they've taken Sawyer. But vague explanations and empty silence are the only answers I've received, so I've learned to check my impatience. Whatever they choose to reveal will be done in their own time, any questions I ask are just wasted breath.

A second hand grabs my other arm and before I can look around a bag is thrown over my head. I stiffen from a surge of panic, but only for a second. Then I remind myself that I'm used to this, that a bag's been thrown over my head so many times in the last few days that it doesn't scare me anymore. Just like I've come to accept the cuffs that chain my hands and feet.

I don't know my surrounds so Alex and her faceless buddy half drag me through halls I've never seen and down stairs I can only stumble over. I wonder at the secrecy, at what things they could possibly want to keep hidden from me. But their motivation is a mystery, and the more I've tried to dissect their actions the more hopelessly muddled my mind's become.

The going is slow, but they seem willing to take their time. I have no concept of distance beneath the hood, so when we stop I have no way of knowing how far they've taken me. Without warning the hands that have been like irons around my arms let go and I sway to one side, into Alex. She rights me quickly, steadying me for a moment before letting go.

"You have three minutes." Ben's voice is in my ear and I start. "Your conversation will be monitored." His voice is calm, deceptively soothing. "The time starts now."

A door opens on squeaky hinges and the bag is ripped off my head, sending a cloud of hair across my eyes. Someone gives me a shove in the back and I stumble forward. Before I can react the door slams shut behind me and I'm encased in darkness. Frantically, I swipe the hair from my eyes, desperate for any sort of light. I strain to open my eyes wide, as though that will help, but there's nothing.

"Hello?"

My mouth goes dry.

"Hello?" It's Jack and his voice is hard, challenging, like he's angry at the world and ready for a fight. And it's so wonderful, such a relief, to just hear his voice that my throat clogs with emotion and I can barely speak.

"Jack." When I manage his name it's a breathless whisper and I marvel that he can even hear it at all.

"Kate!" The change in his voice is clear, even though the only thing he says is my name. The anger is gone, replaced by worry and fear and relief and something else. I hear chains clink together, followed by a muffled curse. His voice is to my left and I take three steps in that direction, strain to see him through the black. "Kate, is that really you? Are you alright?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Are you?" Equal parts laughter and tears make my voice quake.

That's when the lights begin to flicker to life. The yellow glow is dim and it doesn't take long for my eyes to adjust. I'm in a square room filled with small metal chairs pushed against a single, long table. The chairs, I realize, face a window, a viewing glass. And Jack is behind it.

He's in the same clothes we were taken in, only a little worse for wear. His eyes are rimmed with red, like he hasn't slept in days, and he's chained to the ceiling. He looks battered and tired and like he might drop at any second. He's so vulnerable, so seemingly helpless, that it hurts to look at him. I move toward the glass, try to smile, and that's when I realize he can't see me.

"Kate, are you still there?"

He's eyes move back and forth, like he's searching the room, but I can see the tension in his body, the uncertainty of his gaze.

"I'm still here." When he hears my voice he closes his eyes and shakes his head, murmuring something I can't hear. Then he takes a deep breath and looks back toward the window, his eyes moving, unseeing, back and forth.

"They haven't done anything to you? They haven't hurt you at all?"

"No, Jack, I'm fine." And it's the truth. I've been chained and imprisoned, questioned and had blood drawn, but no one's truly _hurt _me.

"What about you? Are you okay?" I can't keep the doubt from my voice, the spark of anger that lurks just beyond the pain and confusion.

He hesitates for a heartbeat, just enough to let me know he's lying, then nods. "I'm fine. What about Sawyer? Have you seen him?"

"No." I swallow a lump in my throat. "I haven't seen him."

He takes a step toward me but the chain pulls him up short. He looks up at it, gaze accusing, and gives a useless tug. He shakes his head in disgust and murmurs, "Do you know why they brought you here?"

"No. They just said I had three minutes."

He nods again then moves his gaze to the sound of my voice. It's uncanny but it's almost like he's looking me straight in the eye, reading every expression on my face. For the first time in days tears prick against the back of my eyes, blurring my vision. Neither of us speaks but in the silence I can hear him, feel the reassurance I get just by being in his presence. And I think he feels the same.

Using a chair as a step up, I sit on the table and press myself closer to the glass. It's only a few inches, but I need to get as close to him as I can for whatever time we have left. I let my head drop forward until my forehead rests against the glass and press one hand against the smooth surface.

"Why are they doing this to us, Jack? What do they want?"

"I don't know, Kate." He presses his lips together and his body tenses. "But I'm so sorry, Kate." His voice catches and even from the distance I can see tears and regret swimming in his eyes. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I had a plan..."

He breaks off, struggling for words.

"Jack, this isn't your fault."

"No." He cuts me off, pulls again on his chain. "It's my fault you're here. You and Sawyer. I never should have let it get this far. I should have confronted Michael right away. If anything happens to you..."

"Oh, Jack." I press my hand more firmly against the glass, my own tears falling freely down my cheeks to drip from my chin. "If they wanted us enough to plan all this, they would have gotten us somehow. And we knew, Jack. We had a chance to turn back."

Jack shakes his head and the grief has turned to anger. I can feel it rolling off him like waves. I open my mouth, to reassure him once more, when the door behind me creaks open. Before I can react hands grab me by the shoulders and pull me back from the glass.

"You're time's up."

"Hey! No, wait!" But they don't listen.

Behind the glass I see Jack's eyes widen, then narrow dangerously.

"Kate!" He takes a step forward only to be brought up short by his chain. "I swear if you hurt her!" His lip is curled with rage and his eyes move wildly back and forth, as though hoping to find some way to see the fight he can only hear.

"Jack!" I struggle, twisting and trying to use by body weight as leverage. I know they'll pin me down eventually, but I refuse to go quietly, to be taken from Jack without a fight. I lash out with my legs as much as I am able, the chains limiting my movement and lessening the strength of my blows. I manage to step hard on Alex's instep and she backs away with a gasp of pain. I feel a pang of guilt, but not enough to stop. I can apologize later.

Someone finally wraps an arm around my throat, and crushes me against their chest. I can't get my hands up to tear at the forearm and soon I weaken enough for two others grab my legs. The last thing I see is Jack pulling viciously at the chain holding him captive. The last thing I hear is his voice. Then everything disappears.

When I wake up I have no idea how much time as passed. My wrists and ankles ache and I have a headache, but I'm in my cell and on the blanket the serves as my cot. My home sweet home for the time being.

I roll over, careful not to let the cuffs chafe too much against my tender skin, and start with surprise. In the corner of my room, sitting unnaturally straight in one of the small metal chairs is Ben. His eyes are wide, fixed on me without emotion. He's unnaturally still and if it weren't for the faint sound of his breathing, I wouldn't believe he was alive.

"It's good to see you awake, Kate." His smile sends shivers down my spine. "I'm afraid that after that little display you'll no longer be allowed anymore...field-trips. At least for the time being." He looks honestly apologetic and I want so badly to spit in his face that I have to bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself.

"Why are you keeping us?" I fling myself upright, so quickly that Ben rocks back against his chair. But he doesn't seem alarmed. "Why do you have Jack chained up? And where's Sawyer?"

I want to scream, to cry, to curl into a ball and just let myself die. I've never been so frustrated, so scared, and helplessness and uncertainty are suddenly tearing at my sanity. I can't see how any of us are going to get out of this alive.

The door flies open and an Other I don't recognize is coming at me with a syringe. I don't struggle, knowing there's no way for me to escape. At least not yet, and maybe not ever. He grips me roughly and seems confused when I don't put up a fight. He glances over his shoulder at Ben who nods. The needle pierces my skin and I can feel the liquid rush into my vein.

"Yes, you were a lot of trouble tonight, Kate. But it was certainly enlightening and even worth all the effort."

"This cryptic act is getting a little old." I can fell the injection beginning to take hold, spreading weakness and fatigue to claw at the edges of my awareness until my thoughts are dulled and my words slurred.

"We don't act." Ben stands up and moves toward my door. "You're all being put to a very good use. And when the time comes, you'll know what the use is."

"Somehow I'm not looking forward to it."

"There's no reason to be afraid." Even falling into unconsciousness, his voice sends a chill across my body. "After all, we're the good guys."

I shake my head, try to speak, but Ben's gone and my world goes dark.


End file.
